A Different Type of Shang
by blah123456
Summary: Kalwen Dienne was trained to be a Shang. She never expected to be so much of a rebel, or hate some people so much. She never expected to be...Read to find out! New twists, different from original Shang stories..
1. Lisete tells a Story

I own No Tamora Pierce Rights.

Reflecting Sorrow

Chapter One

"Mama! Nana!" Miriam ran towards her mother, Lady Marana, and Lady Lisete, Miriam's grandmother.

"Little one," Lady Lisete hugged the five-year-old, and set her down on the bed.

Miriam settled down in her bed. She hugged her doll, and stared up at Marana and Lisete with huge green eyes.

"Nana, tell me the story about Lady Kalwen," she said, smiling.

"Miriam," Marana sighed, "Nana's getting tired, she's told you the story so many times!"

"I'm fine, m'dear," Lisete sat down on her rocking chair. "Well, Miriam, it all started in the Whitefang Mountains."

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	2. Irene, Kaeldros, and Paul

Chapter Two

"Kalwen!" Kalwen's mother, Kiladane called to her five-year-old daughter, out in the garden, "Kallie, come back here!"

Kalwen wandered out farther, giggling and looking back often at Kiladane. Kiladane sighed and shook her head. Kalwen started running faster as she heard her mother run after her.

It was swift. There was a loud crack and Kalwen whirled around. Where her mother had stood, an avalanche had slid. By some work of fate, Kalwen had been spared by only about two feet.

Kalwen was dumbfounded. Her five-year-old mind was slow to contemplate what had happened.

"Mama?" Kalwen called cautiously, "Mama!"

There was no replying call. Tears started to trickle down Kalwen's face. Even though she hadn't figured it out yet, her body knew what had happened.

"Mamaaaaaaaaaaa!" Kalwen sobbed, and yelled, and screamed until her voice went hoarse. She beat the snowy ground with her fists, and when she ran out of energy, she lay curled up on the rocky ground, her streaming tears making snow into slush around her face.

Kalwen had no siblings, and her father had left before her birth. She lay there in shock and finally, fell asleep.

"Sweetheart, wake up," Kalwen heard a soft female voice in her ear.

"Just a few minutes, Mama," she said sleepily, holding up a finger.

The voice left.

Kalwen woke up in a small room, and sunlight streamed in through the windows. The bed was merely a cot, and a thin cotton blanket covered her. She climbed out of bed, shaking her long brown hair out of her face. With a hard yank, the door opened. She wandered out into the hallway. She didn't know what she was looking for, though.

"Girl!" a voice came behind her. Kalwen turned around and looked up with her silvery eyes. It was a man of about 23, and with him was a young boy, about her age. He had dark brown hair and amber eyes.

"What's your name?" he asked gruffly, "What room were you in?"

"I'm Kalwen," she said simply, "I can't remember what room.

"You're Kalwen?" he asked sharply, "Oh alright. Come with me and Kaeldros."

Kalwen followed the man and the boy, right, his name was Kaeldros, into a large room filled with talking adults.

"Irene!" he shouted, "Irene!"

A woman wove her way through the crowd, and stopped in front of the man.

"What, Paul?" she asked impatiently, "If this has to do with that stupid airhead, then the answer is no."

"Actually, it's not about the airhead, for once," he said, his cheerful smile dropping instantly, "It's about this girl, Kalwen."

Irene stopped her impatient foot tapping at once. She bent down to Kalwen's eye level.

"Kalwen, was your mother Kiladane of Whitefang Mountains?"

Kalwen nodded. She noticed Irene had a small drawing of a wolf on the back of her hand. Men with similar drawings had visited her mother before. But where was Mama?

"Come with me, Kalwen. Paul, you can come too," Irene took Kalwen by her hand and led her to a different room. Paul and Kaeldros followed.

"Kalwen, please, sit," Irene gestured to a plush armchair. Kalwen climbed up onto it and snuggled into the soft plush.

"Kalwen, do you know where you are?" Irene asked gently.

Kalwen shook her head. "Where's Mama?" she asked.

"Kalwen, Mama won't be coming back," said Irene, straightforward, but gently.

Kalwen froze. "Why?" she asked, her silver eyes innocent. She had no memory of the day before.

"Remember the snow, Kalwen? Remember everything crashing down?" Irene asked, softly stroking the young girl's hair.

Kalwen did. The terrible image was still clear in her mind. Irene had triggered the memory that had until then, been forgotten in Kalwen's shock.

Kalwen started to cry. The sobs wracked her whole body, and she curled up in the seat of the armchair. This continued on for a few minutes, until Kalwen's sobs were reduced to hiccups, and she was half-asleep.

Kaeldros and Paul watched, silent. Kaeldros felt pity for the girl, Kalwen. Paul, with his gruff appearance, was soft at heart, and it hurt him to see such a young girl in such sorrow.

Irene scooped up Kalwen in her arms and took her to an empty sleeping room. She laid her in the cot, and closed the door softly.

"Well?" Paul asked.

"She's too traumatized. Maybe tomorrow we'll be able to explain." She looked at Kaeldros, "Well, young man, you've been trailing us all morning. Go play with your friends, little one."

Kaeldros slipped his hand out of Paul's and ran outside. Irene and Paul watched him go.

"Two young'uns, all in the same year," said Paul, "Both have the same eyes."

"Yes," Irene said softly, "Eyes reflecting sorrow."


	3. Dinner and Good Nights

Chapter Three

When Kalwen awoke, Irene was in the room. She handed Kalwen a glass of water.

"Do you feel better now?" Irene asked gently.

Kalwen shook her head. Her face was streaked with tears.

"Kalwen, I'm Irene, the Shang Wolf. I knew your mother. She was Kiladane the Shang Fox. You're in the Shang Academy in Whitefang Mountains. Since your mother has departed this world, you'll be living with us."

Kalwen listened, a few stray tears trickling down her face. Her brown hair was in a knotted mess, and her eyes were dull.

"You'll train as a Shang, and then, Kalwen, you'll be able to travel all over. You'd like that won't you?" Irene asked.

Kalwen nodded.

"Good," Irene smiled. "Come with me, we'll get you cleaned up and dressed proper."

Kalwen left the bed and clutched Irene's calloused hand. They went to a large room in the side of the building with a sign 'Bathhouse'.

A group of young women took Kalwen and undressed her. They washed her, and after about half an hour, Kalwen came out of the baths looking refreshed and pink. She was dressed in a ivory dress Irene had brought. Her long brown hair was dried and plaited.

Irene was waiting for the young girl with a bag in hand. She showed Kalwen to a dormitory. It had a total of four beds. Irene set the bag down by the one closest to the door.

"This is the girl's dormitory for first-year cadets. You'll be staying in here, Kalwen. Miss Mariah is your dormitory's supervisor. Since you're already dressed, I'll take you to the dining hall."

Kalwen followed Irene to a large hall, set with long rows of tables. Overhead hung banners with the crests of the Shang Dragon, Phoenix, and Griffin. The Shang Immortals. Irene led her to a table where three other girls around her age were seated. Then she herself went up and sat next to a graying old man on the dais.

Kalwen smiled shyly at the other girls, but didn't say anything. They glared pointedly back at her and resumed their own conversation.

"Silence!" The old man next to Irene stood, and clapped his hands loudly together. Every head in the hall turned towards him.

"We give thanks to our Gods and Goddesses, different they may be, for the plentiful food and love they give us. Please help our children overcome their sorrow and despair and become strong." He sat down. Kalwen perceived in the back of her mind that he was talking about her, but didn't fully comprehend.

Dinner was a boring affair. Kalwen ate potato soup with bread, and drank ice cold water. Health was as important for the Shangs as combat. The three other girls, whom she had learned were named Pamela, Shauna, and Alisha, ignored her and occasionally made malicious remarks about her. Kalwen didn't know why. Later, she figured out that this was because she was a commoner, and they were nobles.

Kalwen met the silent Kaeldros again, right after dinner. He gave her a smile, but said nothing. She shyly smiled back. He was again with Paul, who seemed to be his supervisor.

"G'night Kalwen," said Paul, and gave her a fatherly hug. Kalwen hugged him back. She was herded back to her room by a tall, thin lady, Miss Mariah.

"G'night everyone," she murmured softly, settling in her bed cot.


	4. Examinations and Giggling Girls

9 years and a few months later...Kalwen is two weeks away from her fifteenth birthday! (A/N: Send her and Kaeldros a happy b-day card a.k.a. a review!)

Chapter Four: Gigglers and Examinations

"No! I won't!" A brown-haired girl yelled, her face reddened with anger. Her silver eyes blazed fire.

"Kalwen! Obey me!" Master Octoren shouted at the girl, his face also turning red.

"I won't! You can't make me!" she screamed, her face turning even more crimson.

"Kalwen! You must!" Master Octoren said sternly. The stern old training master only wanted the best for Kalwen, but she defied him.

"Kalwen, I'm only asking you to a simple thing. Just swim! Only a few hundred yards!"

"No! You know I'm afraid of water!" Kalwen screamed, running away from the riverbank.

Master Octoren caught her by her arm. "Kalwen, come back! Now, listen to me. This is a part of the exams you take. You know that. Please Kalwen. You'll never become a true Shang cadet if you don't do this! You've scored with flying colors on every single other subject content! Please Kalwen."

Tears were leaking out of Kalwen's eyes. She bit her lips and her breath came in a shuddering gasp. "Please.." she whispered.

Master Octoren shook his head. "Kalwen. Now. Mistress Irene!"

Irene came over. At her questioning glance, Master Octoren nodded. Irene held Kalwen's arm in an iron grip and literally dragged her over to the girls' side of the lake. In trousers and a shirt, both of light cotton, Irene almost pushed Kalwen into the water. As soon as she hit the river, she screamed.

"Go, Kalwen." Irene commanded.

Kalwen started taking tentative strokes. She knew how to swim, but rarely exercised that skill. Soon she was up to her nose in the water. Kalwen started to panic.

"Kalwen! Calm down. Remember how to float!"

Kalwen did calm down. She swam hesitantly, and anyone could see the panic in her, barely contained.

The Shang had exams like the pages did to become squires. In their case, to see who was fit to become Shang warriors or who wasn't.

Kalwen was barely ten yards out into the water. She closed her eyes and concentrated on nothing but swimming. She bit back her lips as a scream almost escaped her.

Kalwen had hated water ever since that day her mother had died. She of course didn't mind showers and baths, but she despised flowing water. She was deathly afraid of snow and ice.

"Come on, Kalwen!" Mistress Irene called. The girl only had about twenty yards left.

Kalwen finished swimming about ten minutes later. It had taken her a total of twenty-five minutes to swim two hundred yards. It was poor scoring, but at least she had finished.

"Good job, Kalwen," Irene said quietly, "I know it was hard."

Kalwen could do nothing but stand there, eyes closed and savoring the feel of solid ground. Irene looked at the girl with sympathy.

Kalwen turned away. Even after nine years, the terrible image of her mother's death was clear in her mind; pity hurt.

"Kallie!" a distinctly male voice made her turn; Kaeldros, Kael for short, was running towards her. He had also just finished his swimming exam, and was still dressed in his soaked breeches. His shirt had been taken off.

Trying to contain laughter, Kalwen saw a few girls, mainly Alisha and Shauna, were staring at Kael with admiring eyes. Hormones were just beginning to spurt around the Shang Academy. To her immense disappointment, Alisha and Shauna had passed the examinations with poor, but passing, grades.

"It seems that you have admirers, Kaeldros," she teased, jerking her head towards the giggling girls.

Kael groaned. As a teenager, he was extremely good-looking, with dark brown hair that swept across his forehead in a 'gorgeous' tousled way. His amber eyes sparkled with mischief and his body was toned. Actually, it would've been impossible for anyone at Shang to not have a toned body.

"Don't say it, Kallie. Just don't. I don't want to hear it," he said, putting a finger on her lips as she opened her mouth to tease him. She closed her mouth and glared.

"You just _had_ to take out the fun, didn't you," she grumbled. He smirked.

"Kallie," he called her by her childhood nickname, "You passed, right?"

Kalwen assured her best friend with a bright smile. "You think I really wouldn't have?"

"Well, the water bit worried me. I thought you drowned when you were struggling out there," he said, his eyes concerned.

Kalwen clapped his shoulder. "Me, drown? After all I went through? I wouldn't dream of it," she said, lightly joking.

But Kael stayed serious. "Kallie, we need to do something about that fear. Please. My father drowned, you know. I don't want you to end up like him."

Kalwen's gaze fell to the floor. "I won't, Kael. I won't."

"But-"

"No buts. Shush."

Alisha watched the two friends with narrowed eyes. "We need to get rid of that Kalwen girl."

"Why?" Shauna was the less intelligent of the two.

"So I- we,can get Kaeldros, that's why!" Alisha said impatiently. "Don't you see how Kael almost worships the ground she walks on? And she doesn't notice. Not at all."

"Kalwen doesn't deserve him. We do," Pamela's voice was filled with pure disgust.

"Okay…so everyone agrees that we must get rid of Kalwen?" Alisha asked. The three heads nodded agreement. "Here's what we do..."

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Please Review! I promise I will try to continue the story now… 


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